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Been out and about the last two weekends and had some rather nice times!
Weekend of 10th May I was invited by a work colleague to a picnic on the highest hill overlooking Chipata where the communication masts are. Without knowing where I was going we had a terrifying taxi ride up a single track which got narrower and steeper (the car was not a 4*4 and struggled somewhat) and closer to the very impressive edge. At the top were a group of women and children all involved with an Italian NGO which advises and looks after women and children with HIV/AIDS. Part of the conversation was around the latest advice for mothers with HIV/AIDS (as so many children die of diarrhoea because of the water quality mothers are encouraged to breastfeed even if they have HIV, which is the opposite advice to that in the UK). In addition, I didn't know that if a monogamous couple (eg husband and wife) both have AIDS they also need to either abstain or use condoms otherwise they will just pass opportunistic infections between each other continually and may even accelerate each others' deaths.
Anyway, we had a wonderful Indian takeaway lunch
provided by Simone, an Italian lady who has been here for 12 years and raised a family of 3 children. We then went for a bit of a walk back down the hill. On the way back someone spotted an unusual bush which branches in strange shapes. Apparently if you strip the bark and rub it in to a lotion and then on to the skin it makes one irresistible and guaranteed to get a husband. Cue the appearance of my suntan cream and lots of photos of everyone with the stick!
Last weekend (17th) we went to Lake Malawi; a beautiful campsite right on the beach next to a hotel where we ate. Facilities were great and I had my first hot shower in two months. We were very lucky as the weather was definitely changing. Saturday was hot and I swam and read and lazed. However, both Friday and Saturday nights the wind picked up. On Saturday night our tent was blown pretty much flat so we had to move it at 2 in the morning, and on Sunday the sky and sea were grey and the wind had dropped only a little so we packed up
early and came home.
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